July 15, 2003

DURHAM, N.C. - Duke University rising senior Alana Beard will travel to Hollywood, Calif. on Wednesday to attend the ESPY Awards. Beard is one of four nominees for the "Best Female College Athlete" along with Natalie Coughlin (California swimming), Cat Osterman (Texas softball) and Diana Taurasi (Connecticut basketball).

The ESPY Awards will air on ESPN live from Hollywood's Kodak Theatre on July 16 at 9:00 PM (EST).

Beard will be taking two days off from playing with the USA Basketball World Championship For Young Women Team, which is currently playing exhibition games in Boston, Mass. before heading to 2003 FIBA World Championship in Sibenik, Croatia from July 25 through Aug. 3.

A two-time Kodak and Associated Press All-America, Beard led the ACC with 22.0 points per game, while averaging 6.9 rebounds, 2.8 steals, 3.0 assists and 1.3 blocks on the season. Beard, a Shreveport, La., product, led the Blue Devils to an ACC record 35 victories, a second consecutive Final Four appearance and ACC Regular Season and ACC Tournament titles.

The 2003 Victor Award winner and ESPN.com National Player of the Year, Beard received numerous honors as a junior including Kodak All-America, Associated Press first team All-America, Wade Trophy Finalist, Naismith Finalist, NCAA Final Four All-Tournament, Midwest Region MVP, ACC Player of the Year, ACC All-Defensive Team plus many more.

Against Tennessee in the NCAA Final Four, Beard became only the second Duke women's basketball player to reach the 2,000 point mark and will enter her final season at Duke with 2,016 points. The all-time leading scorer at Duke is Chris Moreland with 2,232 points. Beard also became only the second Duke men's or women's player to register 2,000 career points in only three seasons.

In three years at Duke, Beard has led the Blue Devils to a 96-10 record, three straight ACC Tournament titles, a 54-3 record against ACC opponents, three consecutive ACC Regular Season titles and two NCAA Final Four appearances.

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